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NCAA Football Betting Online: Buffalo Bulls coach Lance Leipold isn’t used to losing, so he better start turning the program around. Leipold is a Division III legend after compiling a 109-6 record at Wisconsin-Whitewater, but the going has been a bit rockier at the FBS level. The dimensions of the field are the same and both sides play with 11 players, but Leipold and the Bulls have won just seven games in the past two seasons. The program hasn’t been the most stable. Since moving to the FBS level in 1999, the Bulls have just two winning seasons.
2017 Buffalo Bulls at a Glance
Bulls National Championship Odds: +50000
Bulls Regular Season Win Total: 3.5
Without a doubt Leipold needs a few years to get the Buffalo program on the upswing, but the Bulls regressed last season and they were one of the worst in college football. Buffalo went 5-7 two years ago and were poised to be a sleeper in the MAC. It didn’t turn out that way. They were horrible on offense, averaging just 16.5 points per game, and defense against the run was just as atrocious.
Tyree Jackson is the man running the show on offense after flashing glimpses last season. He threw for 1,772 yards and nine touchdowns for the 95th ranked passing offense, but his accuracy needs to improve. He completed just 53 percent of his throws and tossed nine picks among his 311 attempts. He has a strong arm and can push the vertical attack, but he needs playmakers on the outside after the top three receivers left the program.
Jackson is also fleet-footed and a dual-threat who rushed for 399 yards and five scores a year ago. Leipold stuck with offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and brought in Jim Zebrowski to work with the quarterbacks. Something had to give after last year’s collapse and Jackson, who is just a sophomore, is the future of the team. But can he improve enough to make the Bulls more of a force on offense?
The offense will improve behind a line that could be the best in the MAC with four starters returning. If the defense, particularly against the run, makes strides, it’s not a stretch to think this team could get five wins. A lot has to go right and depth could be an issue, but the 2017 team will be better, both statistically and in the win column, than the 2016 version.
2017 Buffalo Bulls Schedule
Week 1: Buffalo at Minnesota, Thursday, August 31
Week 2: Buffalo at Army, Saturday, September 9
Week 3: Buffalo vs. Colgate, Saturday, September 16
Week 4: Buffalo vs. Florida Atlantic, Saturday, September 3
Week 5: Buffalo at Kent State, Saturday, September 30
Week 6: Buffalo vs. Western Michigan, Saturday, October 7
Week 7: Buffalo vs. Northern Illinois, Saturday, October 14
Week 8: Buffalo at Miami Ohio, Saturday, October 21
Week 9: Buffalo at Akron, Saturday, October 28
Week 10: OFF
Week 11: Buffalo vs. Bowling Green, Tuesday, November 7
Week 12: Buffalo at Ball State, Thursday, November 16
Week 13: Buffalo vs. Ohio, Friday, November 24
List of Buffalo Bulls Seasons
| Year |
Record |
Bowl Game |
| 2016 |
2-10 |
|
| 2015 |
5-7 |
|
| 2014 |
5-6 |
|
| 2013 |
8-5 |
L – Famous Idaho Potato Bowl |
| 2012 |
4-8 |
|
| 2011 |
3-9 |
|
| 2010 |
2-10 |
|
| 2009 |
5-7 |
|
| 2008 |
8-6 |
L – International Bowl |
| 2007 |
5-7 |
|
| 2006 |
2-10 |
|
| 2005 |
1-10 |
|
| 2004 |
2-9 |
|
| 2003 |
1-11 |
|
| 2002 |
1-11 |
|
| 2001 |
3-8 |
|
| 2000 |
2-9 |
|
| 1999 |
0-11 |
|
Football was first played at the university in 1894 and lasted until 1970, when the program was shut down when the student body voted to stop funding the team. At the time Buffalo athletics were fully funded by student fees. After a seven-year hiatus, football would return to the campus with the full support of the student body, alumni and administration. The Bulls returned as a Division III member in 1977 and posted a 0-3-1 record. The wins and losses weren’t as important that year as getting a team back on the field.
Buffalo returned to Division I football in 1993, making the move to the 1-AA level (now known as the FCS) playing as an independent. They enjoyed just one winning season at that level, going 8-3 with a final ranking of No. 27 in the 1996 season. It was announced earlier that year that the program would transition to the highest level of competition and join the MAC for the 1999 season.
The initial season at the FBS level didn’t go over too well in Buffalo. The Bulls went 0-11 in 1999 and didn’t get their first win until four games into the 2000 season with a defeat of Bowling Green. UB won just 12 games in its first eight seasons in the MAC and finally broke through in 2007 under Turner Gill. The Bulls had a losing overall record, but they finished 5-3 in MAC play to tie for the East lead. They lost out on a tie-breaker. The following season would produce an outright East title and a win in the MAC Championship game for the program’s first league crown. The Bulls would play their first bowl game at the conclusion of the season.
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